Stitch In Time
by writergirl438
Summary: The Time Force Rangers saved the day in 2001, but not without changing the future. Even though all seems well, meddling with time always has consequences. What happens when those consequences catch up with them?
1. Chapter 1

**Stitch In Time**

This story is for my cousin Allie who came up with the idea and Sabrina1444 who had something very similar in mind.

It's the first time I've tried something like this, so fingers crossed it works out alright. As always, feedback, thoughts and critique are welcome. I hope you enjoy it.

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_**Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers**_

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**Chapter 1: _A Time For Everything_**

Dark eyes narrowed at the blond across the table, a frown hidden behind a glass of water as their owner maintained a stony silence. "Sorry Eric," Jen mumbled, as she tried to contain her laughter. "Wes does have a point though. You're definitely going soft on the rookies. You let those two off the hook without so much as a glare today."

"Now that, I would've paid to see," Taylor added with a teasing smile as she leaned towards him, gently brushing her shoulder against his. Eric just rolled his eyes before turning to the blonde sitting beside him, the deadly intent vanishing from his eyes and his frown curving ever so slightly into a something bore some semblance to a smile.

His day had not started out well with rookies acting more idiotic than usual and their new sergeant's constant grumbling and grating while he was forced to keep his cool. Things started looking up though when Taylor unexpectedly showed up at Silver Guardians HQ with an offer to take him out to lunch. But of course, seeing as he was surrounded by gossips, word got to Wes who immediately invited himself along and brought Jen with him.

"Actually, I think he just did it to piss Sanders off but it's definitely made a crack in his scary Commander Myers rep," Wes chuckled, earning another glare from his partner.

The shrill cry of a cell phone cut through the laughter circling around the table and Taylor excused herself to take it. When she returned Wes and Jen were still tag-teaming Eric who continued to pointedly ignore them. "Sorry about that," she cut in as she took her seat.

"Everything okay?"

She nodded, a small smile tugging at her lips at the concern laced in his voice. "Nothing to worry about, Lyssa just has a little boy trouble."

"I thought she was dating Cole?" Wes asked, tilting his head forward.

"Exactly," she pointed out, making Jen laugh while the two men just shared a look. Taylor leaned back in her chair and picked up her iced tea. "It's about time though, they definitely danced around each other enough. It was exhausting watching them fall for each other and not even know it."

"I know exactly what that's like," Jen added, as she played with her salad, her lips curving into a nostalgic smile. Wes shot her a confused look prompting her to explain that she was talking about Katie and Trip.

"Those two are together? I would have never seen that coming," Eric scoffed while Wes looked away, his eyes scrunching like he was trying to remember something he'd forgotten.

"Well they're not exactly together, at least they weren't when I left but there's always been something between them," Jen explained. " Trip fell for her when we started out at Time Force, it was just a crush at first but before he even realised, it became more. Katie was oblivious though, at least for a couple of years but by the time she tuned in to her own feelings Ransik happened and they both just boxed it up I guess. Most likely to focus on the mission but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with how I was feeling at the time too. I picked up on it eventually though and if Lucas did he never said anything. I just hope they finally take the time to figure out what they want and go for it."

"Wait, why didn't I notice any of this?" Wes interjected.

"You were focused on other things," Eric offered as his eyes drifted to Jen while Taylor tried her best to keep from laughing.

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Half an hour later, Taylor and Eric casually strolled down the street on their own, enveloped in a comfortable silence as people and cars passed them by. "Do you guys still talk to the rest of the team?" she asked, gently leaning into him as they continued walked.

"Not anymore. That was the trade-off for Jen being allowed to stay. I don't really get how this whole time travel thing works, but no more communication unless we have another world-ending situation on our hands. Why do you ask?"

"Just the way Jen was talking about her teammates earlier. I mean it's great to see her again but I can't imagine how hard it must be for her, leaving everything behind like that."

Eric looked over to find her looking away at something in the distance and gently brushed his fingers against hers. "She's a big girl Tay, she knew what she was doing when she made her choice. I was more surprised Time Force allowed it but I guess the moment Ransik landed here the timeline they were trying to preserve had already begun to change, guess they figured they could make one more exception, considering those two were largely responsible for saving the world and all that."

"I guess," Taylor hummed. "Wes sure seems happy."

"That makes two of us," he stated, explaining that he no longer had to deal with a mopey, lovesick Wes."Now, are you going to tell me what brought this unexpected visit on?"

"Tired of my company already Myers?" she asked, her lips curving upwards as she stopped at an intersection and folded her arms across her chest as she turned to him. "Not yet," he shot back with a teasing grin of his own. "Just surprised, I thought I wasn't going to see you again until next month."

Taylor dropped her hands and turned away, surprising Eric with a look of uncertainty in her eyes. "There's something I needed to talk…"

A loud scream startled them and they instinctively turned around as more screams followed. They shared a look before darting in the direction the sound came from. As they turned the corner they were ambushed by people running towards them, fear and panic etched into their faces. Eric grabbed Taylor's hand and pulled her against the wall to avoid being trampled

He immediately reached for his radio to call in the situation but unable to stay put Taylor weaved through the crowd to find out what they were running away from. The wind whistled in her ears and she could feel it moving around her but it wasn't until she pushed through that she figured out the cause for all the chaos, her eyes widening as they locked on to what was at the end of the street. "Eric…"

He looked up from his radio as he fought his way through and came up behind her. He followed her line of sight mirroring her reaction when he saw the slowly expanding and contracting vortex of swirling energy that was pulling cars and lamp posts into it. "Where did that come from?"

"I don't know but we have to get those people out of there." Without waiting for him to respond Taylor ran ahead to help the people who were still struggling to get away from the pull of the vortex. She helped a young get out from under his fallen motorcycle and urged him to leave it and run. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Eric across the street helping a couple who were stuck in their car. Around her, the air had turned to whips as it was pulled into the vortex while a loud rumbling noise echoed in the street. She scanned the area to see if there were any stragglers. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw a young boy, no older than six or seven, just standing in front of the vortex looking up at the streaks of light that flashed through it while his clothes bristled around him with the wind.

Taylor charged just as the boy was lifted off his feet and began flying towards the vortex. Without pausing to think she jumped onto a nearby car, using it to propel herself into the air from the side and grabbed the boy before making an ungraceful landing on the pavement. She quickly pushed herself up on to one knee and gave him a gentle push telling him to run inside the nearest building.

She got to her feet but immediately felt the grasp of the vacuum. Instinctively, she dug her feet into the ground and looked around for something to hold on to. Her hand barely grazed the hood of a nearby car before her legs were lifted into the air and she could feel herself being pulled in. She struggled to pull away but it was too strong. Her arms flailed helplessly as she was pulled into the vortex. Suddenly a hand grabbed her own and she gasped as she watched Eric try to pull her free, however with nothing to anchor him, he quickly lost ground and followed after her as they were both sucked in.

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That's it for now. I hope you enjoyed it. Please do review and share your thoughts.

Next up: We'll find out were Taylor and Eric end up and possibly who's responsible for all of this.

Till next time...


	2. Chapter 2

Hi there, thanks so much for all the reviews.

Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it.

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**Chapter 2: _Blast Into The Past_**

"Do you think we have enough snacks?"

"Trip?... Hey Trip you with me?"

The green-haired Xyberian blinked, his eyes taking one last glance at the reflection of a couple across the street laughing as they held hands before turning to Katie who was walking beside him. "Sorry, did you say something?"

"I asked if we got enough snacks for this movie night Wes wants to do? I don't want to make another trip to the store," she pointed out.

Trip looked up at his dark-skinned teammate as she adjusted her grasp on an already stuffed grocery bag, biting her lip as she stared at the contents. A small smile stretched across his lips before he caught himself and quickly turned away and cleared his throat. "We have plenty. The only thing we need to worry about is letting Lucas pick the movie."

"Why? Afraid of watching a few high-speed chases?" she chuckled.

"No, I'm afraid it will only be high-speed chases," he countered, rolling his eyes

Katie smiled but nodded along. "Can't argue with that. What's got you so distracted anyway?"

Trip fidgeted with his grocery bags and looked back at the couple they's past before quickly looking pointedly ahead. "I...uh..we… I was thinking about Wes and Jen. Things have been getting a little weird lately." He paused and looked up at her before turning his attention to his feet. "But I guess that's probably why people on the same team shouldn't be romantically involved. It complicates things."

"I don't think you can compare what's going on with Wes and Jen to everyone else. Complicated doesn't even begin to describe their situation. We just need to give them some space right now, you know what Jen is like, she'll do the right thing."

Trip's eyes shot up but Katie's were focused on the street in front of her. "Are… are you saying that you're okay with teammates dating each other?"

Katie blinked and turned to find Trip looking up at her expectantly, she immediately shifted her focus back to the street and shrugged. "Not exactly, it would depend on the people I guess. Working with someone you're in a relationship with requires a lot of maturity and a very clear set of priorities, but if you have that, then I don't see the problem."

She paused for a moment, tightening her grip on the bags. "The way I see it if you have feelings for someone, whether you admit it or not, they're still there and that can be just as dangerous for a team. Ignoring them is not the answer, it's how you deal with them that makes the difference."

Trip fell silent, his gaze dropping to the pavement as the sound of cars speeding by enveloped them. There were a million different things swirling around his head. The whole Alex-Jen-Wes situation was taking a toll on their friend and on the team too, that much was clear. But Katie made an interesting point as well, maybe things didn't have to be so complicated after all. He looked up and took a deep breath.

"Hey Kate…."

"Hmm"

"About tonight, I was thinking… that maybe… what about... Eric?"

"Eric? You want to invite Eric? Why?"

Trip fumbled with bags he was carrying and tilted his head forward, "No look, it's Eric."

Katie turned and followed his gaze to find a slightly disheveled Eric ambling down the street. "He looks kind of lost," she pointed out.

Trip watched as their not quite teammate looked from left to right, sometimes circling around but keeping his eyes peeled as he walked towards them. "Or maybe he's looking for someone, should we help?"

"Mr. Grumpy? Let us help him? Like that's going to happen."

"C'mon Katie, he may not be the nicest guy around but he's one of us. We should help."

Without giving her a chance to respond he ran ahead calling out to Eric, forcing the Silver Guardian to freeze. "Trip?" whispered to himself as he spotted his former teammate running towards him before his eyes were drawn to another figure following at a more leisurely pace, "Katie?"

"What are you guys doing here?" he blurted out once they'd reached him.

"Grocery run," Trip pointed out, holding up the bags. "You looked like you could use some help."

"I'm just looking for Taylor, we got separated…"

"Who's Taylor?" Katie butt in.

Eric frowned but almost immediately his eyes widened as he glanced from Trip to Katie , seeing confusion written across their faces and for the first time took in their casual attire before dropping his gaze to the grocery bags. He quickly stood taller and cleared his throat, donning what he hoped was a stoic expression. "That is Silver Guardian business. And I don't need your help," he ground out before walking past them, determinedly keeping his eyes forward.

The moment he turned a corner, he took a deep breath and made a beeline for the nearest newsstand, grabbing the first newspaper he saw. The vendor gave him a strange look but he ignored it, his eyes focused on the dateline, the year 2001staring back at him in bold digits.

"Are you going to buy that or what?"

The vendor's voice brought him back to reality and he shook his head, neatly folding the paper and setting it back on the pile before walking down the street as he tried to piece things together in his head. Somehow the vortex Taylor and he had been pulled into brought him back in time, back to when the TIme Force rangers were still fighting Ransik.

He looked down at his watch, the hands standing perfectly still and mumbled a curse under his breath. It was a little hard to digest but it explained a lot, why his watch stopped and why his cell phone didn't work, but what it didn't explain was where Taylor had gotten to, she was right next to him but when he came through there was no trace of her. There were so many things running through his head, did she get out okay? Was she in trouble? Was there a time difference between when they got out? Or worst of all, did she end up in a different time?

Eric stood still, staring out at the street in front of him as people and cars continued to pass by, oblivious to what was going on. He took a deep breath as his hand reached for his morpher.

"Where are you Taylor?"

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Taylor coughed, trying to get the sand out of her mouth, as she pushed herself up. She groaned as she got to her feet and grabbed her head, clenching her eyes shut so that the world to stop spinning. Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself and let the distant sound of waves hitting the shore envelope her. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to find herself at a very familiar beach, but as far as she could tell, she was alone. Her eyes widened and she looked around frantically, scanning every inch of the surrounding area. "Damn it Myers! Where are you?" she grumbled as she turned around in circles.

The pull of the vortex was powerful and kept a firm grip on them even as they hurtled through it. At some point, their hands were wrenched apart but she didn't lose sight of him, at least not until she fell into a blinding light and ended up on the beach. Eric should have been right there but there was no sign of him or anything else that was sucked in.

She scrambled to find her phone but when she did, her own reflection stared back at her through the black screen. She stared at it, grunting when nothing she tried would get it to work. Her grip tightened around it and she was ready to throw it against the rocks below when the muffled sound of voices floated down to her.

"Eric," she whispered and without thinking tore off in the direction they were coming from. Her pace slowed as the voices got louder, there was something familiar about one of them but she couldn't quite place it. Something didn't feel right and she made a quick decision to make detour behind a cluster of boulders, staying as low as she could while she inched closer.

Craning her neck so that she could peer through a gap in the rocks she stared at the six figures standing on the beach. One of them was a man in black armour with one side of his face hidden behind a mask. He was flanked by a woman with shocking pink hair and a fish-like creature with several gold necklaces around its neck. "Ransik? Nadira?" she whispered to herself, wondering if she'd hit her head harder than she thought.

But they weren't alone. Standing across from them were three strangers dressed in dark cloaks, flapping around in the wind. From what Taylor could tell there were two males, one female, each with pale skin in a different colour with blunt ridges crowning their heads. The only reasoning she could come up with was that they were mutants, not so unbelievable, except Ransik no longer batted for the evil side and as far as she knew all the mutants had been taken back to the year 3000.

The blue-skinned mutant stepped forward while Ransik continued to stare at the trio disapprovingly, hinting that he didn't know who they were either, "Who are you and what do you want?" he barked, while Nadira sneered at them.

The mutant smiled and in a voice so cold, it sent chills down her spine he assured Ransik that he was a friend, "And we're here to help you destroy the Power Rangers."

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That's it for now. Please do review and let me know what you think.

Next up: It's time for Time Force to get in on the action

Till next time...


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks so much for the reviews.

And now on with the next chapter... Enjoy!

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**Chapter 3: _On The Sidelines_**

Eric kept up a steady pace as he continued through the streets of Silver Hills, no destination in mind, but eyes peeled for a familiar head of blonde. "Come on Taylor," he grumbled under his breath as he turned another corner. He unconsciously pulled out his phone only to be met with his only reflection and cursed before stuffing it back in his pocket.

His head was still spinning from the realisation that they had somehow travelled back in time and not just any time, to the year when his team were active rangers. But the worst was not knowing where Taylor was and not having a way to contact her. He'd convinced himself that they were in the same timeline Searching the streets wasn't going to much good if she was in an entirely different part of town.

As he tried to figure out his next move, a young couple brushed passed him barely sparing him a glance even as he called for them to watch where they were going. They ignored him and continued walking on while he stood there, his eyes focused on their retreating backs. Rolling his eyes he turned to continue his search when he caught sight of a crowd gathering outside an electronics store.

He shot across the street, barely paying attention to the traffic. There were only two reasons people stopped like that and it was too early in the day for a game to be on. Urgent whispers reached his ears as he got closer confirming his suspicions. His eyes widened as they fell on a news report flashing across a TV screen, immediately picking out the cyclobots as they marched down an intersection. Behind them were three mutants, casually strolling down the street, mutants, who didn't seem concerned with people scrambling out of their cars and running away, mutants he didn't recognise.

Eric ground his teeth as the news camera zoomed in trio standing by while their minions raised havoc around them. The reporter's monologue came to a sudden stop as the image pulled back to reveal a car screeching into the frame heading straight towards the mutants before skidding out of control shifting course to a glass-walled building.

His breath caught in his throat as he watched the sedan inch closer until a yellow blur jumped between them, pushing against the car and bringing it to a stop just in time. A small smirk stretched across his lips as he watched the yellow ranger run around to the door and pulled it off helping the couple inside clamber out before sending them running. Around him, cheers erupted as the other four rangers joined her and he found it hard to hide his smile.

He watched as the rangers split up to take on the cyclobots and couldn't help but feel a little proud as they made quick work of the pests. But cheers soon turned to gasps when the news crew came under fire, and the last thing they saw before the screen went blank was the blue-skinned mutant lazily walking towards them.

Eric tore down the street as fast as he could, pushing past people with a barely audible apology. As he turned the corner he was forced to leap to the side as the news van barreled out of the alleyway and turned onto the street. He watched it speed away before turning back to the alley, now proceeding with more caution. Sticking as close to the wall as he could, he peered around the corner and saw Wes standing at the entrance of the alleyway armed with his chrono sabres while the blue-skinned mutant looked on.

Wes charged forward but to Eric's surprise the closer he got to the mutant the slower he seemed to move. By the time he got to his opponent, the mutant was easily able to stop the attacking sabre with one hand while he struck Wes straight in the chest sending him flying. Eric blinked and shook his head, he had barely seen him move his hand before the strike hit. The mutant stared at the red ranger's limp form with an impassive face before turning heel and returned to the battle where Jen and Lucas had left the remaining cyclobots to Katie and Trip while they took on the other two.

Jen lashed out at the green-skinned mutant but before she could land a hit he disappeared. The sound of laughter caught their attention, Jen and Eric turned to find him standing on top of a car.

"C'mon pink ranger, you can do better than that," he taunted forcing Jen to tighten her grip on her sabres as she charged and leaped into the air. But once again he vanished in a flash of light, this time reappearing beside the hood while Jen crashed into the roof.

"Catch me if you can?" he chuckled, as the ranger once again pushed herself up and lunged forward. This time, he opened a portal that Jen fell through, and came out at the other end of the battlefield looking completely perplexed while he laughed away.

"Stop playing games," the blue mutant growled as he returned causing his green teammate to pout but he nonetheless gave in with a heavy sigh. He vanished and reappeared in front of Jen who immediately rushed in. He disappeared once again, this time reappearing right behind her and striking her in the back sending her crashing into the ground.

"Jen…"

Eric pressed back against the wall when he heard Wes pick himself up, when Jen took a hit, he scrambled to her side. In the meantime, Lucas was locked in a battle with the third member of the trio. With his chrono sabres poised, he charged at her but she skillfully dodged each strike, gracefully stepping away or leaning to the side just out of reach, her cloak dancing in the breeze around her with every move. Lucas growled but kept up his attack. Suddenly the green mutant appeared behind him and struck him the back, just like he did Jen.

"What was that for?" the pink-skinned mutant screeched as she turned away just in time for Lucas to join Jen and Wes on the ground.

"No time to play remember," the green mutant sulked as the three of them regrouped. She glared at her teammate and scoffed before stepping in front of the other two facing the rangers. "No matter, I can still show the rangers what I can do."

Her arms flew out of her cloak pointed at the rangers as she tilted her head forward, eyes glowing. Eric couldn't see her attack but whatever it was it made the three rangers grab their heads as they screamed in pain. He pushed away from the wall ready to run in but hesitated, a move that was rewarded when a blast of energy shot out at the mutants. He turned in time to see Katie running in, she skillfully leaped over her teammates, landing in front of them with her chrono blasters raised.

"That's enough, it's time you three called it a day."

The smoke cleared revealing the three mutants virtually unharmed but the pink one was staring at Katie curiously. "Hmmm…. Such rage… interesting."

"Back off," Katie yelled, raising her blasters and firing a shot. The mutant easily dodged and in one swift movement relieved herself of her cloak revealing the black and silver armor she wore underneath. Leaning forward she charged dragging the yellow ranger into a one-on-one fight.

"Katie!" Trip called out as he finished off the last of the cyclobots and drew his blasters rushing in to help. But the other two mutants blocked his way and with the other three still struggling to find their feet he was pushed on the defensive leaving Katie to fend for herself.

"C'mon guys," Eric ground out as he watched the fight, his fist clenching against the wall he was hiding behind. Trip took a step back looking from the green mutant to the blue, pointing a blaster at each of them as they slowly stalked towards him with smug grins on their faces. He fired but the green one simply teleported away while the other stepped aside with incredible speed. To Eric's surprise, they didn't attack Trip even though they clearly had the advantage, they just evaded the lasers and closed in on Trip at their own pace, almost as if they were toying with him.

Their teammate, on the other hand, was not pulling any punches with Katie. The yellow ranger was strong but still found it quite a challenge to keep up with the impressive combat skills of her opponent. She was very quickly put on the defensive and was focusing on blocking her opponent's strikes. She twisted to the side to dodge a strike but left her side open allowing her opponent to land a hit that sent her rolling across the pavement.

"Katie!" Trip called out again but he was locked in a dance of his own. Eric released a breath he didn't know he was holding when the other three rangers finally got to their feet. Jen and Wes rushed to where the pink mutant was slowly walking towards their teammate with her palm outstretched, while Lucas leaped to Trip's side.

Suddenly, their movements slowed, almost like they were moving in slow motion. Eric looked around until he found the blue mutant turning away from Trip with his hand outstretched. A loud scream cut through the air and his attention was drawn back to Katie. Her opponent was standing above her with glowing eyes while she grabbed her head and shrieked in pain. The others tried to get to her but they were trapped.

The yellow ranger struggled, screaming in pain until the mutant drew her hand away allowing her to sink to the ground as her suit fell away. But she was still not done with her and slowly closed the distance before crouching beside her and grabbing her chin forcing the ranger to look her in the eye.

Eric pushed away from the wall and raised his morpher without the slightest trace of hesitation. "Quantu…"

"Stop!"

A hand grabbed his own and pulled him back out of sight. He reeled on the intruder but his eyes widened when he realised who it was.

"Taylor?"

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That's it for now. Please do review and share your thoughts.

Next up: Eric wrestles with a difficult choice. And what happens when 2001 Eric joins the party?

Till next time...


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